Maduro warns that Venezuela has 5,000 Russian missiles in the face of Trump's Caribbean offensive

Dictator Nicolás Maduro claimed on Wednesday that the Venezuelan armed forces have 5,000 Russian Igla-S type anti-aircraft missiles to counter any direct threat against Venezuela. His remarks, made at a meeting with dozens of senior officers, come as the U.S. intensifies deployment of stealth aircraft, Navy ships and troop presence in the Caribbean.

During the statement, Maduro appeared to send a direct threat to Washington: "Any military force in the world knows about the power of Igla-S, and Venezuela has no less than 5,000 Igla-S in key anti-aircraft defense posts to guarantee peace."

"He who understood, understood," Maduro continued. "Let no one mess with Venezuela."

According to the White House, the extensive military device in the Caribbean is part of an anti-narcotics war that has generated the destruction of at least eight drug boats headed from Venezuela to the United States. This Wednesday, October 22, the Pentagon announced two more strikes against narco-boats in the Eastern Pacific.

Meanwhile, the Chavista regime denounces that the U.S. operation is a rehearsal to overthrow Maduro, accusations that the White House has not refuted, leaving open the possibility of action against the ringleaders of the Venezuelan dictatorship.

Both Maduro and his second in command, Diosdado Cabello, have drug trafficking indictments in the Southern District of New York. Both, in addition to having a million-dollar reward for their capture, are also linked to the designated terrorist groups Cártel de los Soles and Tren de Aragua.

The Pentagon reported to Congress in the last month that the United States is in "armed conflict" with regional drug cartels, including the two Venezuelan criminal organizations close to Maduro and his entourage. The Trump administration describes these alleged traffickers as "unlawful combatants."

The attacks in international waters are being debated in legal terms, with critics labeling them "illegal." However, the White House has publicly defended the operations, which, according to Trump, will extend to foreign territory. Some of the potential targets may be within Venezuelan territory.

Maduro's announcement of the Igla-S portable short-range missiles, designed to shoot down aircraft at low altitude, comes after domestic military exercises ordered in response to U.S. activity. The tension raises the risk of a significant clash between Washington's "maximum pressure" strategy against the cartels and Maduro and the Chavista regime's decision to militarize the response with anti-aircraft systems.